This brief describes the principles of gender-responsive programs, summarizes the literature, and presents highlights of MDRC’s implementation study of PACE Center for Girls. The PACE evaluation offers an important opportunity to describe how gender-responsive principles are put into operation in a real-world setting - across 14 locations in Florida - and to investigate the effects on girls’ lives (p. 12).

This report highlights the data on girls in the juvenile justice system and the trauma that often leads them there, examines the effect the juvenile justice system has on girls and their access to education, and offers recommendations to avoid placing girls in the juvenile justice system and instead help them receive the educational and other services they need (p. 1).

This groundbreaking study provides data for the first time revealing that adults surveyed view Black girls as less innocent and more adult-like than white girls of the same age, especially between 5-14 years old (p. 2).

For the past eight years, photographer Richard Ross has been documenting juvenile detention centers across the country. He has visited more than 200 facilities in 34 states and been given rare access to interview and photograph more than 1,000 juveniles. These are a select few of his poignant photos.

Serious juvenile delinquency is a significant and costly problem in the society. However, custodial environments often exacerbate current problems and promote recidivism. Girls’ delinquency, in particular, may call for trauma-informed approaches within organizations that serve the most serious offenders.

Using the ABA database, Authority researchers examined Illinois state employment statutes to shed light on the impact of collateral consequences on convicted felons in the state. In addition, researchers cross-referenced database information with a 2013 Authority study on state employment restrictions. Results were summarized using the occupational classifications developed by the U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics.

This report sheds more light on women in the era of mass incarceration by tracking prison population trends since 1978 for all 50 states. The analysis identifies places where recent reforms appear to have had a disparate effect on women, and offers states recommendations to reverse mass incarceration for women alongside men.

More than two-thirds of states cut crime and imprisonment from 2008-16

For domestic violence and sexual assault victims, the public benefits programs that support basic economic security are of critical importance. While we know that domestic violence and sexual assault occur across the socio-economic spectrum, there are unique challenges and barriers at the intersection of these forms of violence and economic disadvantage. Significant numbers of low-income women are abused or assaulted, and the violence perpetrated against them can make it nearly impossible to climb out of poverty.

The Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) was passed in 2003 with unanimous support from both parties in Congress and signed into law by President George W. Bush. The purpose of the act is to “provide for the analysis of the incidence and effects of prison rape in Federal, State, and local institutions and to provide information, resources, recommendations and funding to protect individuals from prison rape.” (Prison Rape Elimination Act, 2003).